


Ocean Love (Silver x Reader)

by InfiniteRabbits



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Aquariums, Mobius (Sonic the Hedgehog), Multi, Other, References to Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2006
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23244505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InfiniteRabbits/pseuds/InfiniteRabbits
Summary: (One-Shot, Silver the Hedgehog x Reader, Any Gender)Silver's not really used to a world that's not burning and covered in ash and destruction. When he hears about aquariums and the beautiful forms of life that they hold, he's immediately interested. Come and show him the wonders of the deep. Let him experience the joy of just getting to simply be by your side with beautiful sights around him.
Relationships: Silver the Hedgehog/Reader
Comments: 5
Kudos: 34





	Ocean Love (Silver x Reader)

**Author's Note:**

> (Hey guys, this story was both named after and inspired by a particular song that I really like. I’ll place it here for you guys to listen to:
> 
> www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbuAWSbWmi0
> 
> This pretty much sets the tone for the entire story. I hope you enjoy~)

With a loud sigh, you settled onto your couch. With your stomach full of breakfast and happy, you finally feel like you’re starting to wake up. Even with the TV being turned on, you can hear the faint sounds of Silver washing dishes in the kitchen. It’s strange having a time-traveler popping in and out of your home at times, but you can’t deny that you enjoy the company. While Silver tends to use your apartment as a base of operations and a place to crash for the night, he also goes out of his way to spend time with you and make sure you know how much he appreciates you for helping him. The report on the news catches your interest as fun animals flash across the screen here and there. 

“Looks like the Aquarium finally finished their new development project,” you say, relaxing back into the couch cushions.

You’re talking more to yourself than anything, but Silver looks up in interest. 

“What’s an...a-qua-rium?” He asks. 

“You’ve never heard of an aquarium before?” You reply, looking up at him in surprise. 

Even those who had never been to one before had surely heard of them. Then again, Silver wasn’t exactly from around here.

“You forget,” he says, wiping his hands off on a kitchen towel. “The timeline I come from, pretty much everything’s on fire. Rivers of fire, lakes of fire, buildings sinking into molten lava… You know, that kind of stuff.”

“Sorry,” you say sheepishly. “Sometimes I have to remind myself. But an Aquarium’s pretty cool. It’s a place where they have a lot of fish and sea creatures in tanks for you to look at while they take care of them.”

“Fish?”

He tilts his head to the side in curiosity. Honestly, he can’t remember the last time he’s even seen a fish. Never in his timeline, for sure. Only here in this world. He makes his way into the living room, leaning over the backside of the couch to look at the TV screen just beside you. Things that look normal to you look so amazing and out of the ordinary for him. You can almost feel the excitement radiating off of him. 

“Do you… want to go?” You ask, looking up at him.

_“Can we?”_ He replies.

The grin he gives you is more than enough to make you decide on the spot. You’re absolutely going to go if it makes him smile like that.

\---

The tickets alone have Silver interested. He turns them this way and that as he looks over the strange creatures pictured on them. 

“What even are these?” He asks in interest. 

“Jellyfish,” you answer with a soft laugh.

“Jelly...fish?”

It’s not that you’re judging him. If anything, you find his fascination quite adorable. It’s also quite sad to know that he’s never heard of something as common-knowledge as a jellyfish. It spurs your desire to show him all the ocean has to offer before he has to return to his own, less savory world. 

“Yeah,” you reply. “They’re pretty weird little guys, aren’t they? They don’t actually have brains, and those little tendrils have stingers on them. To be honest, I’m not even fully sure how they eat, but they do.”

Silver shivers, not sure how he feels about something that doesn’t think but can still hunt. Even still, the picture shows the animal on a dark background with pretty lighting. Beautiful but deadly was something that was apparently common in _both_ worlds. However the picture was nothing in comparison to the feelings of wonder and intrigue that blossomed inside of him as the two of you enter the giant building. The whole thing for the most part is built on a seaside cliff. There are so many windows to let in the natural light around it, and yet there’s still so much of the building that neither of you can see from the entryway alone. Dark corridors hide away tanks and tanks of fish and other creatures. For a moment, Silver feels overwhelmed. He’s not sure where to go first. His confusion is easy to read. Gently, you give him a little push towards the closest tunnel. 

“It’s okay,” you say softly. “We’ll start over here.”

“Y-yeah, okay,” he replies sheepishly. 

It’s funny, you know you should be here looking at the fish themselves. They’re supposed to be the main attraction. It’s Silver, however, who’s stealing the show. He can’t take his eyes off of every single thing that you put in front of him, and you give a soft laugh whenever he presses his cheek against a tank to try and get a better view of the creatures inside. You’ve never seen him so calm before. Aside from his excitement, of course. There’s no war, no fire, and no enemies to worry about. Just soft music and happy, swimming sea life. His favorites seem to be the eels and the Jellyfish in particular. It seems that with a little more explanation from one of the aquarium workers, he’s gained a little bit more of a fondness for the brainless beings. This is by far the tank he spends the most time at. You lean against the side of it, your chin in your hand as you look over his happy expression. Just as he could gaze at the Jellyfish for hours on end, you’re pretty sure you could gaze at _him._

“They’re so pretty,” he muses. 

“Yeah,” you hum out.

There isn’t all that much conversation between the two of you, other than talking about the animals themselves. Normally you might find that a little strange. Right now, however, it just feels _nice._ It’s hard to find someone to just be able to _be_ with, without having to worry about what to talk about next or what to do next. Silver’s company alone is enough to make you feel happier than you’ve ever felt. You aren’t sure how long you’ve been sitting there by the jellyfish tank, and really you don’t care. With a wide grin, he turns to you. As his eyes meet your own he suddenly feels his cheeks grow hot. For a moment, he’s worried that he’s boring you.

“S-sorry,” he says, standing quickly. “I didn’t realize how long we’ve been here. I uh… It’s okay if we move on.”

Before he can walk away, you reach out to grasp his hand in your own. The last thing you want right now is for him to feel self-conscious. It’s easy to see his blush deepening under his fur and Silver averts his gaze shyly.

“It’s okay,” you coo out. “You don’t have to rush yourself. I’m happy sitting here with you.”

“Yeah?” Silver smiles nervously. “You sure?”

Giving his hand an affectionate squeeze, you nod.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

With a nod of his own, he sits right back down beside you; this time closer than before. To your surprise, he doesn’t bother trying to pull his hand away from yours. Taking this as a positive sign, you lace your fingers together with his and scoot closer to him. He clears his throat nervously. Now he realizes just why he keeps catching you looking at him. He’s excited, flustered, and feeling like he needs to fill the void. If he’s got your attention, he doesn’t want to lose it. 

“S-so uh…,” he starts, leaning against your side as he turns his gaze back to the tank. “There’s a lot of animals here. I take it they’re being well taken care of?”

Feeling the warmth of his body sends an excited little shiver down your spine. Before you can stop yourself, you lean your head against his shoulder. This feels far nicer than it should. 

“Yeah, they are,” you reply. “A lot of the animals they have are here because Dr. Eggman ruined their natural habitats or hurt them in some way. Others are here just in case something happens and we need their help to re-populate the ecosystem. That’s mostly the fish and things like these jellyfish here.”

“They have injured animals here?” Silver asks, glancing down at you in surprise.

“Mhm. Some of them are “quick fixes.” They just need some time to heal before they’re released back out. Others sadly have new disabilities that they need to learn to work with, like missing limbs or things like that. The staff here are very kind and patient with them. When they think that the animals are ready to be set free again, they take them down to the Ocean Zone to let them acclimate back to the ocean before letting them fully loose.”

That piques his interest even more. He gives your hand a squeeze, making your heart race in your chest. 

“What’s the Ocean Zone?” He asks. “Can we see it?”

Now that’s a question you’re not quite sure you know the answer too. You think hard on it for a moment. Picking your head back up from his shoulder, you glance around the aquarium. You’ve only ever been here a couple of times, but you’re pretty sure you remember a specific area that the Ocean Zone can be viewed from.

“I _think_...we can see it from a window somewhere around here,” you say.

Silver’s eagerness to see the animals is infectious, and the two of you stand together to head off in search of said window. He keeps a comfortable grip on your hand, his thumb rubbing back and forth against your knuckles as you walk. That motion alone makes it hard for you to think. The hedgehog has never been this affectionate before and it’s making you so happy that it’s hard to really focus on anything other than him. Eventually you find the window you’re looking for. There, from high up on the cliff side, you can see the Ocean Zone. Attached to the beach below is a surprisingly deep area of water, walled off and filled with a rather large reef area. The reef itself was made of recycled materials, forming little cave systems and safe places for the animals to hide in and stay comfortable. The wall inside of the water was mostly just to keep other animals out, and had an area that opened up to allow the residents of the Ocean Zone in and out as they pleased. The area around the outside of the beach was also fenced off to keep others who might hurt the animals by feeding them things they shouldn’t or pick them up out of the area. A building sat at the edge of the property for the animal handlers who worked with the little guys to spend their time when they weren’t out at the edge of the Ocean Zone, as they were now. 

Silver’s eyes all but lit up as he looked down upon the large area. Parts of it were hard to see from so high up, but he squinted and strained his eyes to try and see anyway. He could see the shapes of tiny otters swimming back and forth across the water, rolling around and playing with each other. 

“They look so energetic. Like nothing ever happened to them,” he muses. 

Though there was one thought plaguing his mind. 

“Are there ever times when they can’t be let back into the wild?”

You smile sadly, giving his hand another squeeze. 

“It doesn’t happen often,” you say. “But it does happen. There’s actually a sea otter here in the Aquarium that can’t leave. He’s missing one of his front paws, which makes cracking his food open extremely hard, and part of his tail is missing too. So he has a really hard time swimming. Had he been younger when he got his injuries, he might have bounced back a little easier. But because he was a little bit on the older side, adjusting was pretty hard. He’s the aquarium’s mascot now. He tried to go back to the ocean, he really did. But a week later, they found him trying to get back into the Ocean Zone. He was… really malnourished. So they took him back in and make sure that he’s well taken care of now.”

The story saddens Silver. It’s amazing how easy it is for you to read his emotions. He leans against your side, holding onto your hand as though it’s his last lifeline. Just the thought of an innocent creature in trouble like that is too much to bear. 

“That’s why we have to make sure we take care of this world,” he says after a long moment of silence. “I don’t want it to end up like my timeline. No one here deserves that… _You_ don’t deserve that.”

He turns to you with a sad smile. 

“I want to keep this world safe for everyone in it. _Especially for you, (y/n).”_

Your heart is beating so fast that you’re worried he can hear it pounding against your rib-cage. Silver is just so darn sweet! You’re not sure your heart can take much more. You want to say something, but words are just lost to you. All you can manage to do is smile and lean forward to nudge your foreheads together. Silver jumps at the contact; his cheeks flushing that deep, pretty shade of pink. Admittedly, he’s too shy to kiss you. He wants to desperately, but he feels as though he might be pushing a boundary. 

But he _is_ brave enough to lean in and nuzzle your noses together.


End file.
